History of Idaho, the gem of the mountains, Volume II, Part 6

Author: Hawley, James Henry, 1847-1929, ed
Publication date: 1920
Publisher: Chicago, The S. J. Clarke publishing company
Number of Pages: 1024

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HISTORY OF IDAHO

was principal of the schools of that place for three years, his wife teaching during the same time. In the meantime he had continued his law studies and in June, 1905, successfully passed the required examination that secured him admission to the bar. He then entered upon the active practice of his profession in Council, where he re- mained from 1905 until 1915, when he was appointed a member of the public utilities commission by Governor Alexander and is still continuing in that office, in which he is making an excellent record. This is not his first public service in Idaho, however. He was for one term, from 1907 until 1909, a member of the house of representatives and was the democratic minority leader in the assembly. He afterward served for two terms in the state senate, from 1909 until 1913, representing Washington county. During that period he was the author of the bill which created Adams county from a portion of Washington county and was connected with other important legislation. Mr. Freehafer had taken up a homestead of one hundred and sixty acres near Council in 1905 and is still the owner of that property.

Mr. and Mrs. Freehafer have become the parents of two living children, Marie and Paul, the former now a graduate of Idaho State University. The religious faith of the family is that of the Congregational church, in the work of which they take an active and helpful interest, Mr. Freehafer serving at the present time as superintendent of the Sunday school in the First Congregational church at Boise. Fraternally he is connected with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, while along the strict path of his profession he has membership with the Idaho State Bar Association and the American Bar Association.

ALBERT JASON KNOLLIN.

Albert Jason Knollin is a man of fine physical proportions whose physique is but the index of his character. He is a big man in the fullest sense of the term-broad- minded, progressive, enterprising, who is not only a leader in local affairs but is rec- ognized as one of the most prominent sheepmen of the entire west. There are perhaps few others who have contributed so largely to the development of the sheep industry in America as Albert Jason Knollin, who is still a prominent stockman of Idaho.

He was born in Montgomery county, New York, April 21, 1862, and is a son of James and Cornelia Knollin. His father, a native of New Brunswick, born in 1831, came to the United States when twenty-one years of age and assisted in preparing the first ties for railroad use in Canada. After crossing the boundary into this country he engaged in farming and in the raising of live stock. His wife was born in New York in 1832 and after residing for some time in that state they removed to Macoupin county, Illinois, where Mr. Knollin engaged in the live stock business. Later he became a well known live stock man of St. Louis, Missouri.

Albert J. Knollin, previous to the completion of his public school education at the age of seventeen years, had served an apprenticeship at farming, taking up active work along that line when a little lad of eleven. When seventeen years of age he began dealing in live stock, largely handling sheep and butchering in St. Louis. In 1883 he established a butchering business in Kansas City, Missouri, and in 1888 sold a half in- terest in his business to Swift & Company of Chicago. From 1885 until 1890 he bought sheep for the Swift corporation on a commission basis and in 1890 assumed charge of their entire sheep interests, having disposed of his remaining interest in the Kansas City butchering business to them. During his association with Swift & Com- pany at Kansas City they established feed yards in both Kansas and Nebraska so as to insure a supply of sheep at all times. Mr. Knollin bought the first sheep ever brought from Texas for northern consumption. To stock the feed yards he found it necessary to ship sheep from the Lone Star state, also from Arizona and New Mexico. In many in- stances the sheep had to be driven many miles before reaching the nearest railroad point. On one occasion he drove his sheep from the south as far as Hutchinson, Kan- sas, to be fed and later shipped on by rail. This was in 1890. In 1888 and 1889 the company bought hay at from a dollar and a half to two dollars per ton to feed the sheep, also paid twelve and a half cents per bushel for corn and from twelve to fifteen cents per bushel for oats, delivered at the feed yards. Mr. Knollin remained with Swift & Company until 1891, his headquarters being in Chicago the last year.

He then returned to Kansas City, where he engaged in farming and sheep raising, and in the fall of 1891 he again began sheep buying on his own account, following

ALBERT J. KNOLLIN

HISTORY OF IDAHO

this throughout Utalı. It was during the winter of that year that he established the present method, which later became universal, of feeding lambs and yearlings. In 1894 he entered into partnership with Edward F. Swift under the firm name of A. J. Knollin & Company and they built up a very large business, handling over eight hundred thousand head of sheep per year, buying in Montana, Washington, Idaho, California, Nevada, Arizona and New Mexico, trailing and shipping from those states to the corn belt in Kansas and Nebraska and owning at one time as many as four hundred thousand head of sheep in ten different states and territories. At the same time they engaged in farming operations in Nebraska, Kansas and Illinois and owned ranches in Utah, Idaho and New Mexico, their wool clipping running as high as two million pounds per year. In 1899 it was almost impossible to sell their wool clip at any price. Some of the wool was freighted by wagon from the Little Lost River country to Dubois, Idaho, at a cost of one cent per pound, netting them but eight cents per pound. During this period on his visit to Idaho, Mr. Knollin became convinced that the state possessed advantages over other states for the raising of sheep and lambs, so the firm centered its business in Idaho, with ranches throughout the state and with the main office at Soda Springs, while ranch headquarters were maintained at Rexburg, Dubois, Lost River, Emmett, Bruneau and Raft River. At the same time the firm owned other ranches in New Mexico and Utah. In 1902 Mr. Knollin dissolved his partnership with Mr. Swift but continued in the sheep business in New Mexico and Idaho. In 1912 he disposed of his New Mexico interests but still owns a fifteen hundred acre farm located ahout eight miles from the city limits of Kansas City, Kansas, which he purchased in 1885.

In 1898 Mr. Knollin turned his attention to the raising of thoroughbred stock, for which he has a demand from all parts of the United States. In 1919 he shipped breed- ing stock, including Shropshires, Hampshires, Oxfords, Cotswolds, Lincolns, Ram- bouillets and Romneys, the latter heing imported from New Zealand, the shipments being made to California, Oregon, Washington, Montana, North Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Utah, Colorado, Tennessee, Louisiana, New York, Massachusetts, Iowa, Illinois and Virginia, as well as a great number being distributed in the state of Idaho. He also had inquiries from every state in the Union but could not supply the stock, although he is the largest hreeder of pure bred sheep in the entire country. He also has the pure bred Belgian horse on his farm in Kansas and shorthorn cattle and Berkshire hogs in Idaho. He has repeatedly captured the first prizes at state and national expositions and has never lost the trophy for carload lots of fat lambs bred and fed in Idaho. In exhibiting his prizes, ribbons and cups at the various expositions he has done more to advertise Idaho than perhaps any other individual. There is not a road or path in this state that he has not either ridden or driven over, and he has done more for sheep raising in the states of Idaho, New Mexico, Texas and Utah than any one individual. Many of the most successful sheepmen of the present day in Idaho were at one time his employes. In 1894 he established the first exclusive commission sheep business in Kansas City with C. J. Booth. This business prospered so well that in 1900 the firm established commission houses in South St. Joseph, Missouri, and Omaha, Nebraska. In 1903 Mr. Knollin purchased Mr. Booth's interest and opened a house in Chicago in 1904 and one in Denver in 1905 but in 1916 discontinued those houses. The business was conducted under the name of the Knollin Sheep Commission Company. They were the largest handlers of sheep on a commission basis, averaging about eight thousand double deck cars, or two million sheep, per year. Mr. Knollin estimates that he has probably handled as many sheep during his career as there are in the United States today, during which time he has had many trials to contend with but persistency of purpose has enabled him to overcome all obstacles and reach a foremost position of leadership in connection with the sheep industry in America.

Mr. Knollin first came to Idaho in 1894, making his home at Soda Springs. In 1917 he returned to this state and is now a resident of Pocatello. He owns eight thousand acres of agricultural land in Bannock, Butte and Caribou counties, on which he raises all his own feed and hay, last year harvesting forty-four hundred tons of hay and two and a half million pounds of grain. He employs one hundred and twenty- five men in this state alone. During the last few years he has been locating farmers on his land on the Little Lost river, where he maintains a school with an attendance of twenty-five pupils, all living upon his ranch. The Child Welfare League reported seventeen children five years of age and under. The value of his service in the devel- opment of Idaho cannot he overestimated.

On the 1st of January, 1891, Mr. Knollin was married to Miss Cora Wells, of Vol. II-4

HISTORY OF IDAHO

Bradford county, Pennsylvania. She is a daughter of Charles and Almira (Mason) Wells. Her father was born in New York but lived the greater part of his life in Penn- sylvania. He was a naval officer under Farragut at New Orleans and in Mobile bay during the Civil war. The mother was born in Bradford county, Pennsylvania, and is a niece of Newton E. Mason, a retired admiral of the United States navy, who was officer in charge of Admiral Schley's flagship in Cuba during the Spanish-American war. Mr. and Mrs. Knollin became the parents of the following children. James Charles, the eldest, is editor of the Orchard & Farm of Los Angeles, California. Loyal C. was a member of the Gas and Flame Corps, serving as corporal with Company A of the First Gas Regiment in France. This work took the company to the front with all the allied armies save that of Italy. Before going to the war Loyal C. Knollin had man- aged his father's farm in Kansas. His splendid military record is but the expression of the name which he bears. Albert J., Jr., attending the Wisconsin State University, was graduated from the Westport high school of Kansas City in 1918 and is now pursu- ing a civil engineering course. The youngest child, Mabel Mary, is attending Miss Barstow's School for Girls at Kansas City, Missouri, in which her mother taught be- fore her marriage. This daughter owns a flock of pure bred sheep on the range in Idaho. Mr. and Mrs. Knollin also lost two sons: Edgar, who died at the age of ten months; and Robert, when but three years of age.

Mr. Knollin is over six feet in height and of athletic build, appearing much younger than he really is. He is a man of polished manner and his wife is an accomplished lady, their home being one of comfort and refinement .. His success is due to no unusual circumstances. He had no special educational training but throughout his life he has been alert to every opportunity for advancement and has used his opportunities wisely and well. Each forward step that he has made has brought him still broader chances- but such as any other man might have won. It has been because he has used his opportunities that Albert Jason Knollin stands today as the foremost raiser of pure bred sheep in the United States.

MRS. STELLA B. BALDERSTON.

Mrs. Stella B. Balderston, state librarian of Boise, has held that position, per- forming its exacting duties in a most capable manner, since 1914, when she was ap- pointed to the place by the state supreme court. She is the widow of the late William Balderston, who passed away in 1914, at which time he was register of the United States land office. Previously, for eighteen years, he had been editor of the Idaho Daily Statesman. William Balderston was born in Cecil county, Maryland, August 30, 1856, and was a representative of one of the old Quaker families of that state. In the maternal line he was a great-grandson of Betsy Ross, who made the first American flag. William Balderston acquired his education in a Quaker school at West- town, Pennsylvania. Throughout his business career he was identified with news- paper interests and for many years before coming to Idaho was editor of papers in both Colorado and Utah. For several years he was editor of the Aspen Times of Colorado and later of the Salt Lake (Utah) Times. Coming to Boise, he assumed the editorship of the Daily Statesman in the early '90s. He did much to develop that paper and make it the power that it is today. He was an ardent supporter of the woman suffrage cause and was largely responsible for its ultimate vletory in Idaho. The first suffrage meeting ever held in the state was at his home in Boise. He stood stanchly for every cause in which he believed and was a fearless supporter of any project or plan which he considered of real value and worth to community or common- wealth.

In Salt Lake City, on the 6th of June, 1891, William Balderston was united in marriage to Miss Stella B. Sain, who at the time was a teacher, having for six years prior to her marriage taught in the public schools of Aspen, Colorado. She was born in Hocking county, Ohio, August 2, 1864, and is a daughter of Isaiah F. Sain, who was born in Vinton county, Ohio, and was of French descent. His life was devoted to the practice of law, for which profession he early qualified. To Mr. and Mrs. Balderston were born four children, a son and three daughters: Elizabeth Canby, who was gradu- ated from Drexel Institute of Philadelphia, and is now the wife of William Water Lindsey; Katharine Canby, who was graduated from Wellesley College, Boston, Massa- chusetts, and is now a student at Harvard University; William, who during his junior

HISTORY OF IDAHO

year at the University of Wisconsin entered the Officers Reserve Training School at Camp Dodge, Iowa; was later commissioned second lieutenant at Camp Taylor, Louis- ville, Kentucky, and first lieutenant at Camp Mead, Maryland, being ready to sail when the armistice was signed; and Stella Mari, who was graduated from the Boise high school and is now a student at Wellesley College, Boston, Massachusetts.

The family has long occupied an enviable position in social circles of the city, especially where the individual is rated by personal worth and intellectual force rather than by wealth. Mrs. Balderston, like her husband, has ever been deeply interested in the questions of the day, especially those relating to the upbuilding and progress of her adopted city and state, and her capability led to her selection for the important office which she is now filling after the death of her husband, who was one of the best known citizens of Idaho-a man who in his editorial and official capacity contributed in large measure to the development of the state.

JAMES H. LOWELL.

James H. Lowell has for many years been a prominent figure in banking circles and in connection with the development of the irrigation interests of the state. He has always carefully noted the trend of the times and with marvelous prescience has recognized the opportunities and conditions of the future, laboring to utilize the one and meet the other in a way contributory to the growth and improvement of the state at large.

Mr. Lowell was born at New Bedford, Massachusetts, May 4, 1860, and completed his education by graduation from the high school of Bloomington, Illinois, with the class of 1877. He afterward went to California, where he engaged in farm work and also in teaching school in Lassen county. He afterward entered the employ of Andy Miller in Humbug valley, near Susanville, California, where he remained for two years, while later he was teacher of a country school near Chico, California. He next went to Los Angeles and after teaching there for a year turned his attention to the land business, buying and subdividing property. He there continued until 1884, when he removed to Hunter Springs, near Livingston, in Park county, Montana, and was en- gaged in sheep raising until 1892. He afterward became a resident of Zillah, Yakima county, Washington, and was one of the builders and promoters of the town, in which he sold land for a year. In the spring of 1893 he arrived in Roswell, Idaho, where, in company with A. J. Wiley, W. P. Hard and D. W. Ross, he built the Riverside canal for irrigation purposes covering about fifteen thousand acres. He managed the project until 1904.

It was in the latter year that Mr. Lowell came to Caldwell and in connection with R. S. Madden entered the real estate business, in which he continued until 1909. He then returned to Roswell and became associated with E. M. Kirkpatrick in the irri- gation and development of the Roswell Park district. There he made his home until 1918, when he returned to Caldwell and spent a year of active work in the Caldwell Commercial Bank of which he has been vice president since 1907. Mr. Lowell became associated with the late Governor A. K. Steunenberg, with John C. Rice and others, in the incorporation of the Caldwell Banking & Trust Company, the predecessor of the Caldwell Commerical Bank. There was perhaps no other man in Idaho more closely associated with the late Governor Steunenberg or a closer friend than Mr. Lowell, the tragic death of the former executive being a blow to Mr. Lowell greater than words can express. In 1898 he was associated with Governor Steunenberg, I. B. Perrine and S. B. Milner as one of the original incorporators of the Twin Falls Land & Water Com- pany, which made one- of the first surveys and obtained the segregation of the Twin Falls tract under the Carey act. An important event in the history of Idaho and one that will ever make the name of Mr. Lowell synonymous with the growth of the state was the saving of the Twin Falls irrigation project, embracing two hundred and fifty thousand acres of what is now the most productive and valuable land of the state -from becoming a government preserve under the forestry act. While Mr. Lowell and his associates were making their surveys for the segregation of this tract and had spent thousands of dollars in the work Mr. Glendenning of Utah, supervisor of forestry for the state of Idaho, had submitted a recommendation to congress, in which he had very forcefully recommended the setting aside of this valuable tract of land as a great government preserve. His report had been so favorably received at this juncture

HISTORY OF IDAHO

that it looked as though the work of Mr. Lowell and his associates and their great dream of peopling the district and converting it into valuable homes and farm properties would be a failure. At the recommendation of Governor Steunenberg and Senator Shoop, Mr. Lowell and Frank Gooding, afterward governor of Idaho, went to Spokane, Washington, which at that time was the home of Mr. Glendenning, for the purpose of interceding with him to withdraw his recommendation to congress to set aside the Twin Falls tract as a forest preserve, in lieu of which to recommend the segregation of this tract for agricultural pursuits, as outlined under the plans of the Twin Falls Land & Water Company. When Mr. Lowell and Mr. Gooding approached Mr. Glendenning he seemed adamant, determined to carry through his original project, and it was only after long and forceful argument that he was made to see the injustice that would be done to the state of Idaho if his recommendation was carried out. He was finally persuaded to yield and to sign a recommendation to congress which re- sulted in the setting apart of this land for agricultural purposes and the great Twin Falls irrigation project was thus carried to a successful termination, so that instead of its being to-day a mere playground for the people of the United States it is now a great productive district, supporting thousands of happy homes, with the city of Twin Falls, one of the largest and finest cities" of the state, as its distributing center. Mr. Lowell has since disposed of all interests in the Twin Falls project. He was one of the promoters of the Caldwell Building & Loan Association and is interested in some of the best improved property of Caldwell, including the Lowell block and the Com- mercial block. He was actively interested in the organization of the Boise-Payette Water Users Association, became its first president and active executive officer. In fact, his labors were a most potent element in the development of the association, as he car- ried on the work until the government became interested through his efforts and put through the project. In this connection he found it necessary to visit Washington and put the matter before Secretary Hitchcock, who approved it. Mr. Lowell remained president of the association until 1909. Another important field of labor which has claimed his attention is that of the Gem irrigation district, comprising about thirty thousand acres of land in Owyhee county. Of this he became manager and his previous experience in the development of irrigation projects made his labors there of direct account.

It was in 1898 that Mr. Lowell was married to Miss Florence E. Hard, a daughter of W. P. Hard, and they are now the parents of an interesting family of four sons: Wade H., Blake J., Douglas W. and Edwin G.

While a resident of Roswell, Mr. Lowell was a director of the school board from 1901 until 1917, during which time the rural high school district was organized. He served as a member of the state legislature from Canyon county in 1902-3 and during that session was chairman of the joint committee on irrigation, at which time the first comprehensive law on irrigation was put through, Mr. Lowell being largely responsi- ble for its passage. Following that session of the general assembly he was appointed state irrigation commissioner by Governor Morrison and was afterward reappointed by Governor Brady, remaining in the office until 1910, when he resigned. From the standpoint of a citizen, however, he still takes a deep interest in politics. He is thor- oughly informed concerning the subject of irrigation, and his contributions to maga- zines on this subject are most interesting and instructive.

JOSEPH PINKHAM.

A history of Idaho would be incomplete if mention were not made of the subject of this sketch, now in his eighty-seventh year, a former territorial United States mar- shal and by appointment from President Harrison in 1891 became the first United States marshal of Idaho after statehood, and an Indian fighter, stage-driver and for a number of years in charge of the United States assay office in Boise but now living retired in enjoyment of a well earned rest,

Joseph Pinkham was born in Ontario, Canada, December 15, 1833, a son of Hanson and Rachel (Pickle) Pinkham, both of whom were natives of New Brunswick, Maine. He is a descendant of Richard Pinkham, who came to America in 1633.

The following is taken from the Idaho Magazine, February, 1906:

"In Joseph Pinkham we find a man who has given the best of his life to the service of Idaho. During most of the years he has lived here, both before and since Idaho

JOSEPH PINKHAM

HISTORY OF IDAHO

became a state, he has been, in one capacity and another, a servant of the public. He has discharged his duties faithfully and conscientiously. Public criticism has never been able to chalk up a black mark on his record sheet. His every effort has been aimed at the betterment of Idaho, towards the advancement of the interest of her inhabitants, and towards the enforcement of her laws. He has helped to make Idaho a state de- sirable for homeseekers. When fourteen years of age, his father died, and at seventeen years he left his boyhood home, went to New York, and shipped on board a sailing vessel, bound for San Francisco around Cape Horn. The voyage was an uneventful one and consumed eight months. He arrived at his destination in the fall of 1850 and secured work in a hay market. During the following two or three years he worked as a clerk in the stores and at other employment in Sacramento, Shasta City and Yreka. In 1853 Mr. Pinkham spent several months in mining about Pitt River, California, later returning to Yreka and joining his brother Ebenezer in a trip to Oregon. They arrived at Jacksonville, Oregon, on the very day when the famous Rogue River Indian war began. They remained there during the war, helped subdue the red men and, at intervals, engaged in mining. In 1855 Mr. Pinkham engaged in packing freight from Crescent City, California, to various points in Oregon. In 1856 he became engaged in cattle raising. This venture turned out to be disastrous,, for during the severe weather of the spring of 1861, their herd of about five hundred cattle was reduced to thirty-five. In 1863 he went to Umatilla, where for over four years he acted as agent for the Over- land Stage Company. He helped out the first stage stock on the Blue Mountains, over the same route now followed by the S. L. Railroad. In 1868 the two Pinkham brothers moved to Idaho City and purchased the stage lines running between Boise and Idaho City, and across the Basin, under the name of the Boise Basin Stage Company. Mr. Pinkham was thus engaged until March 15, 1870, when he received from President Grant his first appointment as United States marshal for Idaho. This office he held for several months over two terms, being reappointed at the beginning of President Grant's second term. During the Bannock Indian war and the Nez Perce Indian uprising, 1877-78, Mr. Pinkham traveled with the regular army, and acted as purchasing agent for the boys in blue. After these disquietudes he engaged in the general mercantile business at Ketchum, a small mining camp in the Wood river country, where he remained until 1888.

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History of Idaho, the gem of the mountains, Volume II, Part 6

Author: Hawley, James Henry, 1847-1929, ed Publication date: 1920 Publisher: Chicago, The S. J. Clarke publishing company Number of Pages: 1024

Author: Hawley, James Henry, 1847-1929, ed
Publication date: 1920
Publisher: Chicago, The S. J. Clarke publishing company
Number of Pages: 1024